What and how do you afterschool w/out overwhelming the kids?

[Sue G in PA]

Four of mine are going back or going to ps for the first time this coming year. Dd12, ds11, ds9 and ds8 (8th, 6th, 4th and 3rd). What would you afterschool? And, how do you do it w/out overwhelming the kids? I mean, don't they already have a ton of homework to do after school? I can see my kids not wanting anything to do w/ school after it is over! However, there are a few things I would like for them to continue or to start...Spanish, a bit of world history (which we can easily do listening to Diana Waring's CDs), more reading than required in the ps, and Bible (which can be done as am devotions). Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to take on too much (cause then it will feel like homeschooling anyway!) and I don't want to overwhelm them. Thanks.

[LibrarianMom]

My 2nd grader enjoys what she calls "Mommy School." Your children will have some homework but not much in the lower grades. Your plans seem workable. Encourage extra reading that complements their coursework when possible (lots of living books!). Do read alouds. Encourage them to give 110% and dispel all homeschooling myths.

[LeeAnn Balbirona]

Sue, three of mine are going back to ps and one to preschool too. I am planning much of what you suggest. Devotions in the morning before school and some additional reading/lessons afterschool. I am having my older two continue with their Latin study, since that is for sure something they won't get in public school! Also they are taking a catechism class. Other than that, I am assigning classical literature (this year retellings of Odyssey & Aeneid) for now. If we have time, I will read aloud Famous Men of Greece too, but I figure start simple and see what everyone has time and patience for first.

Edited July 19, 2009 by LeeAnn Balbirona
forgot some info

[BabyBre]

If there are just a few things you want to continue with them, it seems that you could probably do that before school or on weekends or evenings. My 2 (that afterschool) are younger than yours, but that works out great for us. We get up early enough to spend a couple hours working, they spend the day at school, do their homework after school like everyone else, and a couple evenings a week we study history at bedtime. We manage to cover a lot in that time (see signature). I recently dropped spelling and science, and added typing, logic, and geography in small doses. I'm reconsidering spelling though.

Edited July 20, 2009 by BabyBre

[Caroline]

First, my kids don't have a ton of homework. Our schools are very aware that they have our kids for six and a half hours a day, and they pack a lot into that six and a half hours. So far, that has not been a problem for us, even for my child who just finished middle school.

 

My kids also are efficient with their school down time. They take their extra reading, Singapore math, writing assignments, etc to school with them. Last year, my eight year old studied the presidential candidates and wrote a paper about who he would vote for and why. He ended up presenting his research to his class.

 

Finally, it is just our lifestyle. We discuss literature at dinner. We discuss history while driving in the car. We discuss science while doing the dishes. We talk economics, environment, and nutrition at the grocery. You get the idea. We just live that way.

 

And three of my kids play soccer. Two play instruments. They are in clubs, etc. Anyway, we are just a normal family. We just talk a lot.

 

You can do it. You will do it. Just don't sweat it. It will work out.

[Alessandra]

How to fit it in without overwhelming is something I think about a lot. My dc (entering 3rd & 4th grades) have homework, do team sports, swimming, orchestra, Scouts, clubs... you get the picture.

 

I do not have everything worked out perfectly by any means, but some things that help:

 

-- finding a good time for homework, so that kids do it quickly/efficiently. For us, after school does not work (need a break), but before or just after dinner does (working at kitchen table). Sometimes we do homework at a local nature center.

 

-- we save afterschooling for post bathtime and do it upstairs (so it is a change of venue from homework).

 

-- we also do math in the morning before school. I send scans of dd's work to her teacher. Ds brings his SM workbook to school and is allowed to do it if he finished other math work (which he usually does). I have one math-phobic dc and one math-loving dc, so I use different approaches, but I do try to coordinate/communicate with school.

 

-- I try to coordinate afterschool work with what dc are learning in school. It helps that I use Core Knowledge (for history, science & literature) -- it is sort of unit based, so you can move topics around within the year and even from year to year (just choosing easier or harder reading). Obviously, not all CK topics match up with school, so some are on their own.

 

-- I try to focus on the key aspects of this topic. The CK TH is a big help here. It's not how much I talk, but what the children learn that matters.

 

-- We often combine bedtime reading and CK -- with literature, historical novels, etc.

 

-- We do a little bit of extra grammar and so on, using the simplest possible workbooks, but we don't always get to this.

 

As Caroline said, it is a lifestyle. We watch lots of educational videos, listen to audiobooks and foreign language and all kinds of music in the car. We put out lots of bird feeders this year -- study birds. We are studying aquatic ecosystems, so we explore marshes while at the beach; we took an educational river cruise. We use Ambleside art pix as screensavers and placemats. Etc, etc.

 

But I do want to add one things that is important for us -- in times of stress or just lots of extra activities, we just give it up. i know a lot of people may not agree with this, but in our family we all need some useless, unproductive down time.

 

Oh, I should add that we school through the summer -- it helps to spread things out a bit.

Edited July 21, 2009 by Alessandra

[plimsoll]

I'm not sure I can give you a satisfactory answer, since your question is what lead us to homeschooling in the first place. As my son was learning next to nothing in school, we tried to teach in a few hours after school what should have been taught in a full time school program. Of course, this cannot really be done without wearing out and frustrating everyone involved. So we took him out of school and have not looked back since.

 

As your children may have had enough "formal" schooling during their time in school, I would take a more informal approach for afterschooling. Keep the TV and the WII off. See what educational computer games and board games you can find. Look into things that combine recreation and education. I would recommend lots of family together time - reading (silently and aloud), playing educational games, watching educational videos. Maybe look into some educational gadgets like the Leappad and the IQuest. And make frequent visits to the library. See if you can get them to read one book in each of a handful of subjects every week or two. See about building models, using microscopes, and things like that. Plan family trips to historical sites and mix in some historically educational tours or reading along with the other parts of the trip.

Edited July 21, 2009 by plimsoll

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks for the great suggestions and advice, everyone. I think I will just start slow and fun. We have Leapsters, ed. computer games and such so that will work, I think. My ds11 will need to work on math b/c he is a bit "behind" the ps kids b/c we used MUS. I think Everyday Math is EVIL and it will just ruin everything we've worked so hard for if we don't continue with MUS at home. As you can see, I don't want to give up homeschooling 100%! But, it is what is best for all of us right now. Anyway...we'll work it all out and I probably won't start anything at home until well into the year to give them a chance to adjust to ps life.